Coin-controlled lock for lockers.



S. L. FLOWERS.

com CONTROLLED LOCK FOR LOCKERS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-4.1917

Patented June 25, 1918.

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cum CONTROLLED LOCK FOR LOCKERS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.4. 1917 1,270,717. Patented June 25,191&

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COIN CONTROLLED LOCK FOR LOCKERS.

APPLICATION FILED LL19- Patented June 25, 1918.

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ll TTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SUMPTER LEE FLOWERS, OF BURNS, OREGON.

COIN-CONTROLLED LOOK FOR LOCKERS.

Application filed January 4, 1917.

1 '0 all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, SUMMER Lne FLownns, a. citizen of the United States,and a resident of Burns, in the county of Barney and State of Oregon,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in (Join-ControlledLocks for Lockers, of which the fol lowing is a specification.

My invention relates to coin controlled locks for lockers designed forpublic uses in public places'and is an improvement over the form shownand described in Letters Patent No. 1,180,993, issued to me on the 25thday of April, 1916, and among the objects thereof are to provide aspecial type of key and a special type of tumbler practically impossibleof imitation by dishonestly inclined persons, to provide means forinstant substitution of a tumbler by another at very slight cost, toprovide positive batlles against the picking of the look, as by a. wireor the like, to provide an automatic spring detent for the bolt ineither of its two positions, to provide hinged doors for the lock casingwherein the hinges are hidden and inaccessible and are also withoutpintles, to provide a bolt stop for each bolt position and adapted to berocked out of bolt stopping positions by a coin in one position and by akey in the other position, to provide tortuous runways to prevent thepassage of a wire in an effort to reach an operable part of the device,to form such runways and battles struck up from a metal sheet formingthe casing, and to provide such devices in a simple, etlicient, andinexpensive form occupying but little room in a locker.

My invention is fully described in the following specification, of whichthe accompanying drawings form a part, in which like characters refer tolike parts in each of the views, and in which Figure 1 is a face view ofa cabinet pro vided with my luck connected with the door thereof, saidcabinet. being considered as a locker in miniature, with the parts ofthe lock in normal or unoperated positions;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the lock on the line Q2 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line 3-.3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view, of the interior of the lock, with theparts in operated or cabinet locking positions;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 25, 191 8.

Serial No. 140,568.

Fig. 5 is a section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fi 6 is a section taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. l, but with the cabinetin operated or locked position;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary section taken on the line 77 of Fig. 1;

Fi 8 is a ii'ragmentary section taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 9 is a detached, perspective, view of the type of tumbler which I,employ;

Fig. 10 is a section taken through the type of key which I employ, onthe line 10-10 of Fig. ll; and

Fig. 11 is a fare view thereof, looking down on Fig. 10.

Referring to the drawings, 12 represents a locker having a door 13hinged thereto at ll and being of any size or form to adapt it to anydesi red purpose, being illustrated as a demonstrating cabinet with acarrying handle 15.

Within the cabinet, secured to the inner side of the door, is a lockcasing formed of a base plate 16 and a cover plate 17, the latter beinglunged at the edges and one of the flanges being beaded at lH Fig. (3,to form a concealed hinge with a flange 19 on the respective edge oi theplate ll), a lock 2) being provided for locking the cover in closedposition through the medium of the usual bolt and a. flange El on thercspcw tivc edge of the plate 11']. the hinge thus formed balllinganyattempt to remove the cover by an unauthorized person.

A slide .32 is provided on the Front of the door and in operativeconnection with a. bolt 23 within the lock casing and held in either ofits two positions by means of a spring dotent 24 adapted to engage ineither of two notches in the under side of the bolt, Figs. 2 and 4, thisbolt being normally in retracted position whereby the locker door 13remains open until the use of the locker is desired.

Pivot ed to the bolt at 25 is a rocking detcnt All the outer end ofwhich is heavier than the inner and is adapted to rest on a. loopedmember 27 carried by the bolt to limit movement of said detent 26. Theinner end of the detent 26 is bent upwardly and inwardly to form afinger 28 extended normally into a coin chute 29, Figs. 5 and (l, and ofa width approximately that of the chute whereby a coin may not fallbetween said finger 28 and the side of the chute but will be held onsaid finger to rock the detent 26 on its pivot. The inner arm of thedetent 26 is rovidcd, intermediate its length, with a she f 30 of alength slightly less than the distance of bolt movement and is adaptedto bear against one side or the other of a fixed stop 31 in therespective bolt positions to prevent bolt movement until said detent isrocked to carry the shelf 30 beneath said stop 31, by the weight of acoin when the bolt is in retracted position and, when the detent 26 iscoin rocked, the bolt may be manually forced outwardly by means of theslide 22 to lock the door 13.

The coin chute 29 is arranged between a coin runway 32, arrangedadjacent a coin slot 33 in the door 13, and is carried by the bolt 23,and a coin receiving box 34 detachably held in the casing, and saidchute 29 is provided with a member 35 adapted to cover the inner side ofthe coin slot 33 when the bolt is in outward position to prevent theintroduction of a coin when the locker is in use. The base plate 16 isprovided with a member 36 preventing the escape of a coin when droppedfrom the runway 32 and which also serves to force the coin out of thechute 29 in the movement of the latter with the bolt 23 into doorlocking position, and thus deposit the coin in the box 34.

The detent shelf 30, when the bolt 23 is in outermost position, is belowthe lower end of an inclined runway 37 in turn arranged below anoppositely inclined runway 38 arranged beneath the lower end of a keychute 39 opening to the front of the door 13, and beneath a detachabletumbler 40 forming, when in position, a part of the key chute whereby,when a key is inserted into the opening 41 in a manner to be described,said key will drop upon the runways 38 and 37 and upon the shelf 30 andthereby depress the detent 26 to clear said shelf from the stop 31 andpermit manual bolt retraction, said stop also serving to limit keymovement and prevent its escape from the shelf until the bolt isretracted.

In the bolt retraction, the key drops to a runway 42 where it isintercepted by the looped member 27, suitable baffles 43 and 44 guidingthe key in the right direction and said key is held in this positionuntil the detent 26 is again coin rocked to permit manual bolt movementoutwardly to lock the locker, the key then falling to runways 45 and 46and into a delivery pocket 47 opening through to the front of the door13 ready to be removed by the person who had inserted the coin to permitdoor locking.

A person desirous of temporarily storing an article, clothing,suit-cases, or other personal wear, finds an unused locker with its dooropen, places his article or articles in the locker, closes the door,drops the proper coin through the coin slot to release the bolt, shootssaid bolt outwardly to lock the door and, in such movement, causes thekey to be delivered to him for carriage with him until he desires tounlock the locker.

When he inserts the key into the opening 41, as before stated, thedetent 26 is rocked to permit bolt release, after which he retracts thebolt, opens the door, removes his property, and leaves the door open ashe found it, ready for another user.

The key chute 39 is formed on an. arc of a circle and ribbed, as at 48,also on an are having the same center as the chute 39, and the key 49 isprovided with a complemental groove 50 for the reception of said rib andbeing also on the same arc as that of the rib 48, the rib 48 and groove50 being of any desired height and depth, being arranged along linesother than the central one illustrated, and being duplicated ormultiplied if desired, or made of any desired cross sectionalconfiguration, to make the possible key and chute combinationspractically with. out limit, and said key carries side flanges 51 andflat extensions 52 thereon to fit the key into the chute and prevent keymovement transversely of the chute, and the key may be provided with ahole 53 whereby it may be attached to a kcy'ring.

This arcuate formation of the chute, rib, and groove, requires that thekey be inserted in a certain manner so as to have the rib and grooveregister, and positively preeludes the use of a key having straightgrooves and, as there is no visible means of determinirg the radius ofthe are, a dishonest person would find it practically impossible to makea spurious my and, if found. desirable, key chutes could be substitutedin existing locks having arcuate ribs or grooves on a different. radiusthan the old chute, and thus forestall any dishonest attempt to inakespurious keys.

To further protect. the lock against dishonest persons, or againstopening by keys other than the particularone designed for a. locker, Iprovide the tumbler 40 held in a quickly removable manner, as by springclips 54 and 55, a particular tumbler formation being provided for aparticular key formation and, in the event of the loss of a key by alocker user, the locker may be opened by a duplicate key in thepossession of the person in charge ofvall the lockers and a new tumblerinstantly substituted and thus prevent subsequent opening of the lockerby means of the old key, and the complemental key and tumbler formationsare also practically without limit.

Suitable identification cards will be provided whereby the loser of akey may prove the contents of a locker, and the key and tumblersubstitution costs pra tically nothing as they will probably, althoughnot necessarily, be made of stampings, no two lockers having the sametumbler formation.

The runways, stops, eta, hereinbefore described as being on the plate 16will preferably be stamped therefrom and thus provide a. simple,inexpensive, and uniform structure, but I reserve the right to makechanges in and modifications of the form shown and described, providingsuch changes for detent engagement in either bolt position, said detentbeing released from said stop by the weight of a. coin to permit ontwardbolt movement and by the weight of a key to permit inward bolt movement.

2. In a look, a manually operable bolt, a rocking detent thereon, and astop for detent engagement in both outer and inner bolt positions, saiddetent being released from said stop by the weight of a coin to permitoutward bolt movement and by the weight of a key to permit inward boltmovement.

3. In a look, a manually operable bolt, L rocking detent thereon. a stopfor detent engagement in either outer or inner bolt positions, saiddetent being released from said stop by the weight of a coin to permitoutward bolt movement, and a gravity key normally retained within thelock for releasing said detent from said stop to permit inward boltmovement.

4. In a lock, a manually operable bolt, a rocking detent thereon, a stopfor detent engagement, and a gravity key for releasing said detent topermit inward bolt movement, the weight of a coin releasing saidt'letent to permit outward bolt movement and to deliver a key exteriorlyof said lock.

5. In a look, a manually operable bolt, a rocking detent thereon, a stopfor detent engagement in either outer or inner bolt positions, a gravitykey held by said bolt when in its inner position, said detent be ingreleased by the weight of a coin to permit outer bolt movement and tothereby release said key, and means for delivering said key exteriorlyoi said lock, the weight of said key when inserted into said lockreleasing said detent to permit inward bolt movement.

(3. In a lock, a manually operable bolt, a rocking detent thereon. astop for detent engagement in either outer or inner bolt positions. agravity key, means .on said bolt for holding said key when said bolt isin inner position, and means for delivering said key exteriorly of saidlock when said bolt is moved to outer position, said detent beingreleased by the weight of a coin to permit outward bolt movement and bythe weight of said key to permit inward bolt movement.

7. In a lock, a manually operable bolt. a rocking detent thereon, a stopfor detent engagement in either outer or inner bolt positions, a.gravity key, means on said bolt for holding said key when said bolt isin inner position, means for delivering said key exteriorly of said lockwhen said bolt is moved outwardly, and a coin chute carried by saidbolt. said detent being released by the weight oi. a coin to permitoutward bolt movement and by the weight of said key to permit inwardbolt movement.

8. In a lock, a manually operable bolt, a rocking detent thereon. a stopfor detent engagement in either outer or inner boltpositions, a gravitykey. means on said bolt for holding said key when said bolt is in innerposition, means for delivering said key exteriorly oF said look whensaid bolt is moved outwardly, a coin rbute carried by said bolt andcovering the coin slot when said bolt is in outward position, and meansfor forcing a coin out of said chute when said bolt is moved outwardly,said detent being released to permit outward bolt movement by the weightof a coin and to permit inward bolt movement by the weight of said key.I

9. In a'lock, a manually operable bolt, a rocking detent thereon, a stopfor detent engagement in either outer or inner bolt positions, a gravitykey, means on said bolt; when in inner position for holding said key,means for delivering said key exteriorly oi said luck when said bolt: ismoved outwardly, a key chute provided with an arcuate guide for saidkey, said key having arcuate means for guide engagement, and a coinchute, said detent being released to permit outward bolt movement by theweight of a coin and to permit inward bolt movement by the weight ofsaid key.

10. In a lock, a manually operable bolt, a rocking detent thereon, astop for detent engagement in either outer or inner bolt positions, agravity key, means on said bolt when in inner position for holding saidkey, means for delhering said key exteriorly of said lock. when saidbolt is moved 0utwardly. a key chute, and a tumbler. said chute andtumbler being provided with arcuate guiding means for said key and saidkey being provided with arcuate means for engagement with said guidingmeans.

11. In a lock, a manually operable bolt, a roeking detent thereon, astop for detent engagement in either outer or inner bolt; po sitions, agravity key, means on said bolt when in inner position for holding saidkey,

means for delivering said key exteriorly of said look when said bolt ismoved outwardly, a key chute, a detachable tumbler forming acontinuation thereof, and arcuate means on said chute, tumbler, and keyfor preventing movement through said chute and tumbler of a key otherthan the predetermined key.

12. In a lock of the class described, a manually operable bolt, arocking member thereon, a stop for member engagement in either outer orinner bolt positions, a gravity key having channels on opposite sidesthereof arranged in parallelism along arcuate lines, means on said boltwhen in inner position for holding said key, means for delivering thekey exteriorly of the lock when the bolt is moved outwardly, a keychute, and a tumbler, said chute and tumbler having arcuate ribs fittingcertain of said 20 key channels.

SUMPTER LEE FLOWERS.

